


Your Mental Health Matters (aka IM3)

by Kizmet



Series: What If [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, F/M, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has Issues, good communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-30 09:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15094358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kizmet/pseuds/Kizmet
Summary: Improved Communication starts having a cumulative effect.





	1. It’s Not You, It’s Me

Just as Tony was settling into storytelling/confessional mode Bruce held up a hand to stop him. “Is this going to be the gory details about how we were left thinking that you were dead in the wreckage of your house for fifty-three hours?” he asked.

“Well, that’s one part of it,” Tony admitted feeling a bit nonplussed.

“Then I’m going to have to stop you right there,” Bruce sighed.

“Oh, um, I guess I won’t bother you with my problems,” Tony hated the sulky _hurt_ whine creeping into his voice but the feeling of disappointment was surprisingly strong. He swung his feet to the floor and got up to leave.

“Hulk likes you,” Bruce blurted out.

Tony stopped.

“You asked me to help you get a handle on what’s going on with Pepper,” Bruce continued.

Tony nodded, puzzled. "I did."

“I’m not going to be able to focus on that if you keep talking about the guy, or girl I suppose, who had your house blown up,” Bruce explained. “Because the other guy wants to help too… Although less help unravel a scientific problem and more smash anyone who hurts our friends.”

“Oh,” Tony blinked in shock. “Well, actually Pepper already took care of the smashing. Maybe tell Big Green ‘Next time’?”

“Yeah,” Bruce shook his head. “I think he heard… And approves of Pepper. So, what’s the story on this Extremis stuff?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m starting to think that Bruce is the character who most improves if he communicates better.


	2. Tony Is Honest With Killian

_“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter, I said it cause he said it. So now he was famous and that's basically get said by two well known guys. I don't, uh...I'm gonna start again. Let's track this from the beginning.”_

It was New Years Eve, 1999. Tony Stark was more than a little drunk but doing pretty good, in his opinion. The bright, lovely scientist on his arm hadn’t agreed to sex yet but she was taking him to her room so he figured the odds were in his favor.

Then, out of the blue, a long haired guy with bad teeth and cheesy tee-shirt shoved his way into the negotiations. “Mr. Stark! Oh, wow! Hey, Tony! Aldrich Killian.” He glanced at Maya, “I'm a big fan of your work!”

“My work?” Maya laughed.

_‘He’s got no chance… Still don’t appreciate being cut in on,’_ Tony thought. “Who isn't? She needs me.”

“Well, of course. But, Miss Hansen, my organization has been tracking your research since year two of MIT,” the guy didn’t take a hint!

Tony and Maya got on the elevator while Happy tried to block Snaggletooth’s path, “Yeah, we're full.”

The guy raised obliviousness to an art form by ducking under Happy’s arm. _‘He’s lucky Happy didn’t just floor him,’_ Tony thought. “Oh, wow. He made it. He made the cut.”

“What floor are you going to, pal?” Happy asked, pointedly putting himself between Killian and his primary.

“Oh, now, that is an appropriate question,” Snaggletooth launched into his elevator proposal, talking over Happy’s shoulder. “The ground floor, actually. I've got a proposal I'm putting together with myself. It's a privately funded think tank called Advanced Idea Mechanics.” He held out a pair of business cards to Tony and Maya.

“Okay,” Maya said.

Meanwhile Tony’s ‘not liking things being handed to him’ thing kicked in. “Uh...she'll take both. One to throw away and one to not call.” He was pretty sure that the guy was making a sincere, if totally unprofessional, pitch but Tony’s mail had been screened for contact toxins for as long as he could remember.

“Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM for short,” the guy said, pointing to the logo on his tee-shirt. “ Do you get it?”

“I see that, cause it's on your t-shirt,” Tony said.

“Aaah!” Snaggletooth grinned, apparently concluding that he was gaining ground for some unknown reason.

By this point Tony fully expected the guy to try to shove his way right into Maya’s hotel room, which was seriously going to put a damper on the evening for him. “Ladies, follow the mullet,” he said shooing everyone else off the elevator to create an opening to dissuade Snaggletooth from following him any further.

“Thank you, I'll call you,” Maya called back to Snaggletooth as she headed toward her room.

Tony took a deep breath as Maya disappeared down the hall, “Yes, I have money and own a tech company but I am under no obligation to listen to you, particularly at a social event. If I did choose to listen to you, which I don’t, I have no obligation to actually fund you.”

The guy’s mouth gaped open.

“You haven’t told me anything about your science, let alone anything that would catch my attention. Which means all you’ve been selling is yourself.” Tony looked the guy up and down and wrinkled his nose, “Your appearance is unprofessional and, worse yet, unappealing. You’re so aggressive that my bodyguard was assessing you as a threat. I am drunk, by the way. AND I AM TRYING TO GET LAID, something you are seriously getting in the way of. If you had the choice between ushering in the New Year with her or with you who would you pick? Your odds of getting my attention were microscopic to start with,” Tony nodded in the direction Maya had gone, “but if I miss the chance to hit that because of you… Well I won’t be in a mood to look favorably on your proposal, get me? Call my company and the receptionist will tell you I’m booked until the next turn of the century, ‘kay? We good here?”

**No need for course correction. Killian was a psycho, any rejection was going to turn him super-villain and Tony had no Earthly reason NOT to reject him.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony being honest and straightforward is not at all the same as him being careful and considerate of Killian’s feelings.


	3. What are We All Doing Here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by comments (thanks theorytale and AnonEhouse), Bern with the focus on Maya.

Tony grinned at Maya. “Hey, do you want...?” he began before one of the other guests came up

“Tony Stark, great speech, man!” the guy said and Happy promptly steered him away. 

“I gave a speech?” Tony marveled. “How was it?”

“Pitiful,” Happy declared. “This is a medical conference, you were supposed to be presenting on SI’s advances in medical technology and you gave the speech on integrated circuits that you give to the summer interns every year.”

“Obie should have known better than to book me for the turn of the century,” Tony complained. “So I did what anyone would have done, given the situation.”

Maya raised a questioning eyebrow.

“He rang in the New Years in Tokyo seven and a half hours ago, then booked it via supersonic jet to make the conference,” Happy explained. 

“Which explains the practically unintelligible speech,” Maya said dryly.

“Well, at least that cuts down on the number of people who noticed or cared that I gave the wrong speech,” Tony said with a shrug as he took Maya’s arm and started steering her toward the elevators.

“Where are we going?” Maya asked.

“Uh...to town on each other, probably back in your room,” Tony announced. “Cause I also wanna see your research. I mean, otherwise I’d just take you to my room…Or any room with the requisite degree of privacy.”

“I’m a little stuck on my research, there’s glitch. I’m certainly not saying no to getting your input,” Maya said then added the qualification, “But let’s stick to just research.”

Tony noted her hand still in his, “Any chance you might reconsider?”

“There’s always a chance,” Maya said without much enthusiasm. “As long as I’m getting something out of the conversation you can keep trying.”

“Works for me,” Tony agreed.

They made it to Maya’s room with only a couple interruptions; one where Tony was a complete and total ass and a second where the other guy was even more so but the guy had been following her research. Maya didn’t doubt his sincerity, he looked like a definite candidate if she could get it to the point where her subjects didn’t blow up when poked.

Once they were in her hotel room Maya tensed up a bit. 

“So research?” Tony asked. “I actually was interested in your presentation, not JUST the fact that you're a babe.”

Maya snatched up her computer. In a few moments she had her data pulled up.

“I thought that was just a theory,” Tony gushed. 

“Well, it was,” Maya said. “If I'm right, we can access the area of the brain that governs repair.” 

“Wow!” Tony declared.

“Are you really that enthused or are you just trying to keep sex on the table?” Maya asked.

“The later,” Tony admitted shamelessly. “Is it working?”

“Are you actually paying attention or just staring at my boobs and making encouraging noises?” 

“I’m a genius at multitasking… Among other things,” Tony replied with a suggestive grin. “I can appreciate your rack and take in your research at the same time. Just try me.”

“Okay, so what am I doing here?” Maya challenged.

Tony slid his glasses down his nose for a moment. “Essentially you're hacking into the genetic operating system of an organism.”

Surprised Maya nodded, “That’s right.”

“I told you: Multitasking,” Tony said as Happy reached out to poke at the plant Maya had in a special transport case.

“Don’t touch that,” Maya snapped.

“What?” Happy asked, hand still outstretched.

“My plant, don’t touch it. It explodes.”

Happy jerked his hand away.

“Really?” Tony asked, eyes lighting up.

“That’s the glitch I mentioned,” Maya sighed.

“I wanna see,” Tony declared reaching for the plant. 

Happy caught his arm, “Boss, ‘member the rule about not letting you play with explosives while intoxicated,” he protested then glanced back at Maya, “Really? The ficus explodes?”

“Oh yeah,” Maya warned.

Tony slipped past Happy and tore off a small leaf. He grinned, wide and child-like as the severed stalk glowed orange and started to regenerate.

“Hit the deck!” Maya exclaimed. Happy tackled Tony while Maya grabbed her computer and ducked into the next room.

“We gotta stop meeting like this, Boss,” Happy sighed as he pushed himself off Tony. “People are going to talk.”

“Let ‘em, you know you’re my favorite,” Tony joked as he and Happy checked each other for injuries. He glanced over at Maya, “Have you checked the telomerized algorithm?” he asked.

“You know, I’m rethinking sex,” Maya decided. “How about we burn some time while we’re waiting for you to sober up enough not to burn down the hotel or kill us all.”

“Now you’re talking!” Tony exclaimed. “Sex and science, my favorite combination.”

When Maya woke up alone the next morning she was disappointed but not surprised. She sat down at her computer and pulled up the telomerized algorithm hoping she’d gotten something for her trouble. 

Then she noticed Tony’s name tag carefully propped up on the nightstand. She turned it over and saw the scribbled equation. “That dick,” she groused. “He could have woken me up for the science.”

**Because telling Happy the plant would explode if he touched it probably would stop him... But it would only encourage Tony.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why would _anyone_ schedule a technical conference for December 31st, 1999? Why would Tony Stark, pre-Iron Man, be attending a New Year’s Eve party associated with a tech conference instead of doing something extravagant like trying to ring in 2000 in every time-zone? 
> 
> Technical conferences are generally centered around a specialization. Yinsen is a surgeon, the doctor he tries to introduce Tony to is a cardiologist, Maya Hansen does medical research… And Tony gave a speech on integrated circuits (which aren't even cutting edge)? Why?


	4. I’m Worried About You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. don’t suffer from bad communication. Tony is entirely aware that J.A.R.V.I.S. would like him to take more safety precautions and J.A.R.V.I.S. is entirely aware that Tony is going to opt not to follow his good advice. They have both communicated their desires and intentions clearly, they just don't agree. 
> 
> Most of the Mandarin’s nonsense is out because he’s not trying to communicate, he’s intentionally and effectively misdirecting attention. 
> 
> During Rhodes and Tony’s conversation Rhodes specifically states that the government intends to deal with the Mandarin themselves, that it’s not superhero business. Tony’s little on air-challenge, for all that the narrative calls it reckless, actually works as a way for Tony to get around that without defying the government: If he goes after the Mandarin he’s a vigilante, if the Mandarin goes after him he’s defending himself.

“How did you get get out of the wormhole?” Tony felt his heart racing and cold sweat beading up as the kid’s question reberterated through his consciousness. Distantly he heard himself making weak excuses as he fixed his eyes on the suit. 

Rhodey trailed behind him. 

“Check the heart, check the...check the...is it the brain?” Tony stammered once he was encased in the protective layer of gold-titanium and his own engineering genius.

“No sign of cardiac anomaly or unusual brain activity,” J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him.

“Okay, so I was poisoned?” Tony asked trying not to sound hopeful.

Regretfully, J.A.R.V.I.S. reported, “My diagnosis is that you've experienced a severe anxiety attack.”

“Me?” Tony protested even though he couldn’t honestly say he was surprised.

A crowd gathered around staring at Tony and the suit. ‘Probably all hoping for me to fuck up dramatically.’ Tony couldn’t help but think.

Rhodey knocked on helmet, “Come on, man. This isn't a good look, open up.”

Tony thought about just leaving Rhodey and the conversation Tony didn’t want to have standing there in the dirt then he said, “Think you can hitch a ride?”

“You drop me and Mama Rhodes’ll be having words with you,” Rhodey warned as he stepped up on Iron Man’s feet and locked his wrists behind the suit’s back. Tony flew back to the Malibu house, being careful not to dislodge his friend instead of blasting away at the sort of G-Force inducing speeds that cleared his mind of everything except the thrill of flight. 

When they arrived Tony headed straight for his lab. 

“I don’t know how to avoid ruffling your feathers about this,” Rhodey admitted as he claimed the couch while Tony went for his favorite spinny chair. “It’s not like I don’t get where you’re coming from, I’m forty years old and military-”

“Forty-six,” Tony coughed and Rhodes gave him the evil eye.

“Over forty,” he allowed. “Just like you. Anyway, you know I’ve got my doubts about this sort of stuff, psychiatrists, but I’ve been asking around, talking to guys, military guys, who’ve tried it and it helps.” 

“They don't have board of directors looking for an excuse to get rid of them,” Tony argued bitterly. “You know they almost gave me a vote of no confidence after Afghanistan. And that was without me letting a shrink close enough to provide a ‘professional’ opinion about how there’s something wrong with me.”

“Stane was driving that,” Rhodes protested.

“I don’t know if he was building credibility for a suicide cover or if he actually had some hesitation about murdering me with his own two hands,” Tony remarked. “But no one was making it hard for him.”

“So what?” Rhodes challenged. “You made Pepper your CEO and not even the biggest Howard die-hards want to take R&D away from you. Come on Tones. So what if your businessman persona takes a hit, you have more fun being the mad scientist anyway. So they go to Pepper with business proposals and talk to you about the feasibility of teleporters, I’m not seeing the downside.”

“It was a fully functional lightsaber,” Tony replied. “And you know you wanted it. It was totally some boring old general talking with your mouth when you gave that speech about how swords, even laser swords, weren’t a direction that the U.S. Military was interested in pursuing… This is different from playing mad scientist. I can just see my Dad’s look of disgust.”

“You’ve done a whole hell of a lot more stupid things than talking to a shrink because Howard wouldn’t have approved,” Rhodes pointed out.

“He wasn’t wrong about everything,” Tony said. “You know how many times I’ve been a ticket to someone’s fifteen minutes of fame. I don’t want to spill my guts to some stranger just to turn around and see them doing a tell-all on some crappy day-talk show.”

“Professional ethics man,” Rhodey argued.

“Go right out the window when it comes to me,” Tony replied. “Sometimes I swear, I don’t even count as human to most people.”

Rhodes sighed, he’d seen too much evidence of that to dismiss what Tony was saying as paranoia. “Tony, I’m not trying to build a case against you or take the suit away from you. I’m just worried about you. Could you at least think about what I’m saying?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes ONE conversation doesn't change things. This will be coming up again.
> 
> IM3 is looking like it will be long. I'm still in the set-up phase before Happy gets hurt but between Tony, Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. They're all making an art-form of not communicating effectively with each other.


	5. Not Putting Off Difficult Conversations

“You wanted to see me?” Happy asked poking his head into Pepper’s office. “You got the memo I sent didn’t you? It’s great right: Tony has got them in his basement, they're wearing party hats. This is an asset that we can put to use.”

Pepper closed her eyes as if in pain, “No Happy, this isn’t about replacing the entire janitorial staff with robots. Or it is, sort of, but- This is awkward, we’ve been friends forever. But I have to be your boss today.”

Happy sat down across from Pepper.

“I love how enthusiastic you are about your new position,” Pepper said. “But Happy, you need to tone it back.” 

“I’m trying to keep SI safe,” Happy protested.

“And we make it hard for you,” Pepper agreed. “But the rest of us have jobs that we need to do too. And we need to accept a certain amount of risk… We need to be able to walk across the lobby without worrying about whether or not our badge has gotten twisted around backwards.”

“Security or freedom?” Happy asked looking troubled.

“Yes,” Pepper nodded. She gestured to the glass wall of her office, “I don’t want to feel like this is a curio-cabinet that you’ve locked me in for my own safety.” 

Pepper's Assistant knocked, “Excuse me.”

“Yes?” Pepper asked

“Miss Potts, your four o'clock is here.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you clear this four o'clock with me?” Happy asked frowning.

“Happy,” Pepper warned.

“Right, security or freedom,” Happy sighed. “Only, you don’t look like you want this meeting.”

“It’s-” Pepper sighed. “It’s just this very annoying thing.”

“How so?” Happy asked.

“I used to work with him,” Pepper said. “And he used to ask me out all the time. So it's a little awkward.”

Happy frowned. “Do you want me to hang around? I mean Head of Security, if this guy makes you uncomfortable being there to make sure nothing happens is pretty much my job description.”

Pepper smiled. “Okay… Yeah, I would like you around… Just, Happy? Don’t loom.”

“Right,” Happy agreed. “I’ll be out here. If this guy does anything inappropriate, just shout and I’ll throw him out on his ass.” 

Happy was feeling much less content with the situation several minutes later as he watched Pepper’s ‘annoying’ four o’clock get into her space and her NOT call for him to throw the guy out. Plus the driver Killian had brought with him just set Happy’s teeth on edge. 

When the guy made a point of deliberately refusing to show Happy his name tag, Happy walked across the lobby and loudly asked Pepper’s assistant for his and his boss’ sign-in information. Then started running their names. He’d just gotten a history on Killian when his tablet started ringing.

“Hello?” Happy asked holding the tablet at an awkward angle.

“Is this the Forehead of Security?” Tony teased. “I’m just calling to have an excuse not to think about what Rhodey’s asking me to think about. Entertain me!”

“What?” Happy snapped. “You know, look, I got a real job. What do you want? I'm working, I got something going on here.”

“What? Harassing interns?” Tony asked remembering some of Pepper’s complaints about Happy’s over-exuberance in his new position. _‘I wonder if she’s talked with him about that yet.’_

“Let me tell you something, you know what happened when I told people I was Iron Man's bodyguard?” Happy snapped, in no mood for being teased. “They would laugh in my face.”

“You tell them about Monaco?” Tony asked. “When you took on a supervillain with nothing more than a car to GET me the suit?”

“I did didn’t I?” Happy said, relaxing and even smiling a bit. 

“But I don’t want you getting hurt because of me,” Tony added.

“Why is everyone against me doing my job,” Happy complained.

Tony shook his head, “You didn’t sign on for Vanko or- Or alien invasions-“

“And I didn’t sign out when that started being your day either,” Happy argued.

“I signed you out,” Tony said.

“Yeah and that’s when my job started being a big joke,” Happy said sounding anything but. “Look Tony, this guy meeting with Pepper? I don’t like him. At first it was fine, they were talking business, but now it's like getting weird. He's showing her his big brain.”

“His what?” Tony asked in confusion.

“Big brain, and she likes it. Here, let me show you. Hold on. See?” Happy held up the tablet without flipping the screen.

“Look at what? You watching them? Flip the screen and-” Tony broke off. “Actually, you know what, I don’t care. I don’t worry about who Pepper talks to unless they’re unhinged lunatics using her to get to Iron Man and I really don’t control who Pepper talks to. I don’t want any part of my anatomy getting a closer acquaintance with her very pointy heels if you get my meaning.”

Happy colored visibly even over the screen, what Tony was saying sounded a little like the freedom versus security speech Pepper had just given. “Okay, maybe I’m overreacting, I don’t get to say who Pepper can and can’t talk to but I don't trust this guy. He's got another guy with him, he's shifty. I- Look, I wanna be sure Pepper’s talking to who she thinks she’s talking to. Because checking out shifty guys who want to get in bed-“

Tony coughed, it sounded something like: “Heels, ass.”

“ _-With SI_ ,” Happy stressed. “Is my job. So I'm gonna follow this guy. I'm gonna run his plates and if it gets rough, so be it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As SI's head of security, Happy isn't completely out of line wanting to check out Killian before he gets a badge and an invite into their headquarters, or in being put on edge when Killian's head goon refuses to show his badge. Assuming that SI is still in any sort of regulated industry Pepper needs to check that the people she's thinking about doing business with aren't, you know, crazed terrorists. And her head of security doing background checks on someone who has a business proposal for SI isn't out of line really (the problem is where Happy fixates on protecting Tony and Pepper's relationship from other guys who might flirt with Pepper).


	6. That’s PTSD you’re Describing

A giant rabbit was… Not exactly what Pepper wanted to come home to. Neither was the Iron Man Armor sitting on her couch but Iron Man was a hugely important part of Tony’s life so she asked, “What makes this one special?”

“Wellll…..” Tony drawled. “Come down to the basement, find out.” 

“Hmmm, does it remove giant rabbits?” Pepper wondered out loud.

“You don’t like your Christmas present?” Tony pouted.

“I love the thought,” Pepper replied. “But if you blow out a wall to get it inside the house…”

“I wasn’t… Okay, busted. I was totally thinking about blowing out the wall,” Tony admitted as Pepper came downstairs and realized that he was controlling the armor remotely. 

“That was remote? I didn’t have a clue you weren’t in the suit… Impressive,” Pepper said. “But that’s what? Thirty suits?” 

“Forty-two but who’s counting?”

“Tony don’t you think enough’s enough?” Pepper pled. 

Tony took a deep breath “You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain 'em. Gods, aliens, other dimensions-”

“I’m not an expert,” Pepper broke in. “But you sound like you’re describing post-traumatic stress.” 

Tony flinched, “Okay, traumatic stress, I guess I’ve got to give you that but I’m not so sure about the ‘Post’ part. What I saw out there? The threat is imminent, and I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you. My suits, they're uh…”

“You’ve made forty-two of them seven months,” Pepper pointed out. “-Thank god, none of them have even seen a battle- And you keep making more. Between you and Rhodey you’ve got two pilots. Two pilots, forty-two suits-”

“Maybe you and Happy,” Tony began.

Pepper sighed, “Tony, that isn’t me.”

“In an emergency,” Tony argued.

“Maybe, but Tony-” Pepper sighed. “What you saw on the other side of the portal, is another suit really going to help? More than taking care of yourself? You’re barely involved in the company anymore. You hide down here all day and most of the night building suit after suit. You haven’t even looked at anything collected by Damage Control- Tony, you’re building all these suits but you’re not even looking at the data to figure out what it is that you’re trying to get ready to fight against! So, I have to think that all this-” she gestured to the suits lining the walls of Tony’s workshop. “-is just distraction. And… I want to sleep with you again”

“Well...” Tony grinned laciously. 

“That, yeah. But also- sleep. As in close our eyes, fall asleep and I don’t feel you slip out of bed fifteen minutes later to come down here and build another suit,” Pepper said. “Tony, I haven’t woken up next to you in over seven months. And I miss that, you.”

“I miss that too,” Tony said quietly. “But, Pep, I get nightmares, violent ones. I- I don’t think me sleeping next to you is a good idea.”

“Then talk to someone,” Pepper pled. “Because we both want back to the way things were before the invasion.”

Tony made several false starts then sighed, “Ms. Potts, you play dirty pool.”

The regret in Pepper’s eyes warred with the firmness of her expression. “If that’s what it takes to get us back to when we were happy,” she said. “I don’t want to live without you either Tony. And since the Invasion, even when you’re right in the room with me, a lot of you is still there. Gone where I can’t follow.” 

“Okay,” Tony surrendered. “I suppose you’ve already got a list of names you’ve cleared or something?”

“I didn’t want to presume but I’ll have them by week’s end,” Pepper promised. “Actually, do you mind me siccing Happy on any potentials?”

“Put his paranoia to good use?” Tony asked. “And getting him to lay off the interns at the same time? Go for it.”

A few hours later they’d get the call about the bomb at the Chinese theater and Happy being caught in the blast, just barely outside the radius where the victims had been vaporized.


	7. There are Reasons for How I Act

As Tony worked to analyze everything he had on the Mandarin his doorbell rang, it’s cheerful tone was jarringly normal against the day he’d had. “Are we still at ‘ding-dong’?” Tony objected. “We're supposed to be on total security lock down. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?”

“There's only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world's press your home address,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied dryly as they examined the dark-haired woman standing on Tony’s doorstep.

“Et tu J.A.R.V.I.S.?” Tony asked. “First: My address is public knowledge. You remember my 40th birthday was scheduled to be held here? I sent out invitations and everything before deciding a huge party with people I didn’t even know would be a miserable way to spend what I thought was going to be my last birthday on Earth. But I host at my home and my address is listed on about six different celebrity maps for the L.A. area so tourists can drive by. You know Christine Everhart was far from the first journalist to do the walk of shame from this house. I didn’t make them wear a blindfold or anything when I brought them home for Thor’s sake! And they didn’t have a lot of reason to keep it quiet for me afterwards. Sure I was throwing down a gauntlet by giving my address but the information isn’t anything that a halfway determined civilian couldn’t have found on the internet.

“Second: I damn well knew what I was doing when I threw that gauntlet. I wanted in on the Mandarin bombings before the asshole went and made it personal by hurting Happy but Rhodey already told me that the government didn’t want my help. So, fine if I go after the Mandarin without an signed invitation I’m a vigilante. A label, which so far, I’ve managed to avoid mostly by convincing everyone that the stuff I stick my titanium-gold facemask in _IS_ my business. This time I’ve been told it’s not but if I can get that sucker to come after me, then it’s self-defense and I’m still good.”

“I’m certain your ‘plan’ is brilliant, sir. But I doubt the young woman ringing your bell is the Mandarin,” J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested. 

“J! I didn’t raise you to be sexist,” Tony scolded. “She could totally be the Mandarin.” Then he sighed, “But Maya Hansen seemed too sensible to do the jilted ex-lover thing over a one-night stand so I should probably go see what she wants and send her packing before the actual terrorist shows up… Or Pepper answers the door. I think expecting her to deal with my past lovers now that we’re together would probably NOT be a good boyfriend move or something…” Tony’s eyes widened in alarm, “J, if it’s a kid she would have been here… Um twelve years ago right?”

“I don’t believe I am qualified to answer that question,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, sounding amazingly unimpressed.

“Well, I better get to it,” Tony sighed donning the armor. “You think this will help convince her that the house could be attacked at any moment? Let her in.” 

Tony went upstairs and waited as JARVIS let Maya in and his security system scanned her. “Right there's fine,” he said, announcing his presence. “You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?”

“You don't remember,” Maya replied. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Don't take it personally,” Tony said. “One of my best friends is lying unconscious in the hospital after nearly being vaporized. I’m waiting for a terrorist to accept the engraved invitation to attack me that I delivered via national television. Plus I’ve got personal issues I really should be focusing on but, honestly, I’d much rather deal with the terrorist.” 

“Okay, look, I need to be alone with you,” Maya insisted. “Someplace not here, it's urgent.”

Tony tilted his head to the side questioningly. “Are you sure that you’re not the Mandarin? ‘Cause you’re acting sort of um… I don’t want to say suspicious, but yeah, suspicious.”

Pepper dropped a pair of bags from the upper balcony “Tony, is somebody there?” she called.

Tony stepped out of the suit. “Yeah, it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely.” As Pepper started walking downstairs, Tony turned towards Maya. “Oops , my bad,” he said, keeping his voice down, “I do remember you. I just don’t like giving one-night stands the impression that it meant more than it did.”

“Sex with a drunk guy is rarely memorable,” Maya replied with a cutting smile. “The only reason you’re an exception was the part where you blew up my plant then made a couple halfway useful suggestions about how to prevent it from blowing up.”

“Wait, you’re here about the plant?” Tony started to say only for Pepper to start talking over him. 

“I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests,” she said.

“Naw, we expected her,” Tony disagreed. “Maya’s here because she’s connected to the Mandarin, nothing to do with me sleeping with her. Once. A dozen years ago.”

“So I don’t have to worry about sorting out a paternity suit while we’re getting the hell out of Dodge? Great!” Pepper snapped.

Tony turned his back on Maya to scowl at Pepper, “If you’re mad at me…”

“Yeah, I am,” Pepper said, her voice raising steadily. “It’s not enough for you to insist on personally recovering SI missiles from the black market or dealing with lunatics who’ve pinned their issues on your dad or alien invasions, you just had to put yourself on a terrorist’s radar! This is the dictionary definition of ‘looking for trouble’ Tony!”

Tony pointed at Maya without glancing away from Pepper, “She proves I was already on the Mandarin’s radar!”

“But you didn’t know that when you called him out!” Pepper shouted back.

“What if Happy wasn’t just in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Tony demanded angrily. “What if he was targeted because of me?”

“THEN STOP MAKING YOURSELF A GOLD AND HOT-ROD RED TARGET!” Pepper exclaimed. “You take responsibility for cleaning up after Stane’s crimes! You take responsibility for things you father might or might not have done! You take responsibility for fixing the damage ALIENS did to New York when they invaded! People start thinking you have a guilty conscious, that it WAS your fault! And there are too many, way too many! Unstable people out there, Tony, just looking for someone to blame their problems on! And you make it easy for them!” 

“Stane was my fault!” Tony snapped. “I should have known-”

As they fought Maya’s attention was drawn to the TV screen and the live broadcast showing a missile headed straight at the house where they all stood. “Guys, can we um…”


	8. Reaching Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because there’s no way Pepper and Maya left the sight of the attack without a visit to the hospital and a talk with the police.

An EMT put a blanket over Pepper’s shoulders as he steered her toward the back of an ambulance. Neither that EMT or his partner said anything about the split helmet Pepper was hugging to her. “Ma’am is there anyone we can call for you?” the second EMT asked.

Pepper shook her head mutely and clung to the helmet even tighter. 

Police and other emergency workers swarmed over the remains of the house. Another EMT brought Maya over, checked her for a concussion and put several steri strips over the cut on her forehead. Distantly, Pepper heard the police questioning her about why she’d been at the mansion.

“I’m, well, Tony and I had a history,” Maya explained awkwardly and unhelpfully.

“Tony Stark went on National TV, invited a terrorist to attack him and… You thought this was a good time to see if there was still a spark?” the detective asked dubiously.

Then Pepper’s EMT was loading her onto a stretcher and shutting the doors. They took her to the same hospital where Happy was being treated. After X-Rays and doctor poking and prodding at her, Pepper made her way to his room still clutching Tony’s helmet. 

Pepper sank into the visitor’s chair, “Oh Happy,” she said slowly turning the helmet over in her hands. Then she gasped as she saw a light come on inside the helmet. Hardly daring to hope Pepper put the helmet on. 

“Pepper, it's me. I've got to say and not a lot of time.” As Tony’s voice filled her ears, joyous tears streaked down Pepper’s cheeks. “So first off, I'm so sorry. I put you in harms way. I made you worry. I dragged us into this whole thing and I’m sorry, but... I’m not going to stop. Sorry. I got a little info about the official investigation out of Rhodey, the government’s grasping at straws. I heard what he said: After Manhattan they’re feeling emasculated, so they want to prove they can take this guy without asking for help but, Pepper, people are dying and I’m good at this. Plus Maya and her exploding plants are involved, and I gave her some suggestion to make them better. Then the bastard went and hurt Happy, and nobody gets to hurt my friends and walk away. I’m sorry Pepper, I should have made you were out of the line of fire first. But- This is me. I’m in Rosehill Tennessee, I think one of the bombs went off here but it’s NOT one the Mandarin is claiming. I’m going to check it out. I’m sorry. I’ll come back to you as soon as I can, I hope you’ll still want me. Stay safe.” 

The shock that had numbed Pepper ever since seeing the house crash into the ocean with Tony still inside fractured. She remembered Maya’s her evasive non-answers to the police in spite of being involved, somehow. The helmet was still active, “JARVIS?” Pepper asked, her voice cracking. There was no response but her eyes landed on a phone icon. “Call- call Rhodey,” she stammered.

The call was picked up instantly. “Tony! Thank God!” Rhodes exclaimed.

“Tony’s alive,” Pepper said. “I don’t know how but he’s alive and he’s in Tennessee. He’s following a lead.”

“Pepper?” Rhodey asked. “Are you okay?”

“No, yes, I don’t know,” Pepper said. “Happy, the house and I thought Tony was dead. I’m not hurt, well a couple stitches, but it’s nothing given. They blew up our home with a missile!” She took a deep breath. “Rhodey a woman showed up right before the attack, Maya Hansen. Tony thinks she’s connected to the Mandarin, something to do with an exploding plant? She came to Tony but she’s not telling the police anything.”

“Okay, okay, Maya Hansen,” Rhodey muttered. “I’ll pass on her name for my people to run a check and I’ll be in L.A. within the hour. If she was looking for Iron Man maybe she’ll talk to me.” 

“Thanks Rhodey,” Pepper said. She took off the helmet and set it on the nightstand beside Happy then she headed downstairs after fishing his cell phone out of his jacket. She caught Maya just as the other woman was checking herself out of the hospital and fell into step beside her. “Why were you at the house tonight?” Pepper asked. “What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?”

“I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin,” Maya said in a hushed voice. “So if you still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe.”

“I called for a car on the way to the hospital,” Pepper said holding up a pair of keys. 

“Thank you,” Maya said.

Once they were in the privacy of the car Pepper asked, “Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony says you're a botanist, so…”

“That figures,” Maya huffed. “What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, “Tony knew you for what? A couple of hours. Twelve years ago? He remembered your full name and that you were working with plants back then. What did you expect? That he was going to follow your career after that? I suggest you lay off the Harlequin Novels. Now, this boss of yours, does he have a name?”

“Yeah, Aldrich Killian,” Maya answered to Pepper’s shock.


	9. I Like You Kid but Please SHUT UP!

As Tony and Harley walked through Rose Hill toward the site of the unclaimed Mandarin-style bomb Tony critiqued, “The sandwich was fair. The spring was a little rusty. The rest of the materials, I'll make do. By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more than that.” He pulled up his sleeve to show the pink little girl’s watch he was wearing.

Harley laughed, “She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition. When can we talk about New York?”

“Maybe never. I don’t want to talk about- about that,” Tony replied tersely.

“What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?”

“We haven’t seen each other since- Since what we’re not talking about happened. So not likely. Hey kid, give me a little space,” Tony demanded as they arrived at the memorial set up on the site of the explosion. “What's the official story here? What happened?”

“I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army,” Harley explained. “One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here.”

Tony looked at the bomb shadows then asked “Six people died, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Including Chad Davis?”

“Yeah.“

“Yeah?” Tony said. “That doesn't make sense.” He sat down next to Harley on the step leading into the crater. “Think about it. Six dead, only five shadows.”

“Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven,” Harley explained. “Except the bomb guy, he went to Hell. On account of that he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five.”

“Lacks scientific validity,” Tony said. “Bomb shadows are created when something, someone blocks the intense thermal radiation caused by the explosion from bleaching the concrete behind them. So, without any bullshit about souls and moral judgments about the victims, how do you get five bomb shadows out of six victims? 

Harley frowned intently, “Well, what if one person was standing in front of another?”

“Good,” Tony encouraged. “But were all six bodies vaporized?”

“Yeah, no bodies just…” Harley waved at the shadows.

“So I’m thinking, less prosaic,” Tony replied. “A light source doesn’t cast a shadow; a bomb doesn't leave a bomb shadow.”

“You know what this crater reminds me of?” Harley asked.

“No idea. I'm not...I don't care,” Tony said.

“That giant wormhole, in um...in New York. Does it remind you?” Harley pushed.

“That's manipulative,” Tony pointed out. “I don't want to talk about it. I’ve told you more than once that I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are they coming back?” Harley asked anyway. “The aliens?”

“Maybe. Can you stop?” Tony pled. “Remember when I told you that I have an anxiety issue?”

“Does this subject make you...make you edgy?” Harley asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?” Tony begged.

“Are there bad guys in Rose Hills?” Harley continued then finally noticed that Tony was starting to hyperventilate. “Do you...do you need a plastic bag to breathe into? Do you have medication?”

“Nope.”

“Do you need to be on it?”

“Probably.”

“Do you have PTSD?”

Tony groaned, “Symptoms have to persist for at least a month to be diagnosed as such. The symptoms don’t necessarily start immediately after the- the incident. If you must know, it was better when I was working with Barbossa on the whole ‘If they come back’ thing. But S.H.I.E.L.D.’s like a textbook example of a shady government agency: No accountability to the public. A remit that’s basically whatever they say it is. A bad habit of breaking into people’s homes and otherwise ignoring civil rights. Working with them gives me hives, even if it felt like I was doing something. Long story short, even if you ignore the personal factors that incline me toward denial there hasn’t been that much time since- Since that!”

“Are you...are you going completely mental?” Harley asked. “I can stop, do you want me to stop? Do you want me to stop?”

“Let’s see, can you count? How many times have I asked you to stop?” Tony asked pointedly. He tried to think about something, anything else. But now that Harley had linked the bomb crater to the portal he couldn’t stop himself from looking for the resemblance. “I swear to God, you're going to freak me out!” Tony leapt up unable to stay in the crater a moment longer. “Ah man, you did it, didn't you? You happy now?”

“What did I say?” Harley asked plaintively as he trailed after Tony.

Tony spared a moment to shoot a disbelieving glare at Harley. “Five times in the last five minutes I’ve asked you not to talk about a certain subject. Before we left your garage I explained that I had an anxiety issue and I did not want to talk about _that_ thing. And you want to know what you said? Seriously? Am I not already spazzing out enough for you? You’re still trying to get me to talk about it?” 

Tony scooped up a handful of snow, he held it for several seconds focusing on the burning cold sensation then tossed the resultant snowball at Harley. “Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died… relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?”

“Where she always is,” Harley said.

“See, now you're being helpful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props for the Rosehill Sheriff. Shady-Lady grabs Tony and puts cuffs on him. The Sheriff asks what she thinks she’s doing and she flashes a badge (like any good S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent would) but he does NOT back down. He wants verification before he’s going to stand by while she grabs a guy off the street for no apparent reason. This is not the way things are done, the arrest looks wrong and he isn’t interested in people being disappeared from his town, even if they’re a complete stranger whom he doesn’t recognize as a celebrity hero and has no reason to protect other than it’s his job and it’s the right thing to do. Sure he get killed for his trouble but nameless law-enforcement person upheld the spirit of his duties and gave Tony the opening needed to escape, instead of being represented as useless, brainless or a thug.


	10. Sharing is Caring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very tempted to do the whole “We’ve got a connection” scene. But despite Tony being an asshole and Harley being a manipulative brat, I think they are communicating perfectly. Tony is trying his hand at responsible adulting and refusing to put Harley in even more danger. Harley is being a kid and wants Tony to take him anyway. Tony gives Harley something else to do, which is important, but gets him off the frontline, Harley accepts it. 
> 
> Similarly Tony’s mildly manipulative with Cameraman Greg- Not that it takes much with a fanboy… Just ask Steve how hard it is to talk Sam Wilson into things. 
> 
> Funny how the MCU treats someone fanboying over Tony as a joke but when Scott and Sam fanboy over Captain America they’re not depicted as a pathetic/creep stalkers- Well, Scott, just a tiny bit, but nothing compared to Gary. Also Tony didn’t ask Gary to break any laws or risk his life... but then Tony’s more conscious of celebrity status which, somehow, makes him a worse person because Steve isn’t _aware_ of how he abuses his influence. -Anyway both parties clearly communicated what they wanted and Tony didn’t really take that much advantage of Gary being a fan, comparatively speaking.
> 
> So neither of those scenes really fits.

“Sir, I have a lead,” Rhodes argued. “Maya Hansen-”

“Works for A.I.M., the group hired to upgrade your suit,” the General replied shortly. “Her background check was spotless.”

“Then what was she doing at Tony Stark’s home minutes before the attack?” Rhodes demanded. “Ms. Potts contacted me. Hansen came to talk to Tony about the Mandarin after his ‘I double dog dare you,’ stunt. She knows something.”

“And we have a lead on a terrorist cell in Pakistan,” the General replied sternly. “Get your ass over there.”

Suddenly Rhodes phone rang. “Uh… Hang on, I have to put you on hold for a second. Hello?”

“You ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?”

“Yeah, I've had that,” Rhodes replied rolling his eyes. “Tony, what have you got?” 

“You don’t sound surprised,” Tony sounded disappointed. 

“A) Pepper called me, more than twenty-four hours ago, I might add. And B) You’re the only one who can override me silencing my phone when I’m, I don’t know, on a mission or talking to my superiors,” Rhodes complained. 

“Which was it?” Tony asked curiously.

“A General,” Rhodes replied. “Good to hear your voice Tony.” 

“Yours too. Now your redesign, your big rebrand, that was A.I.M., right?” Tony asked.

“Fuck me sideways,” Rhodes swore. “Not again! I was holding out hope but no! You know, the next time the government contracts someone to upgrade the suit for them, I’m going to assume upfront that they’re installing malware and bring it to you to get cleaned out before my next mission.”

“Great idea. But first I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now and do a little counter cyber infiltration,” Tony said. “I need your login.”

“It's the same as it's always been,” Rhodes admitted. "WarMachine68."

“And password, please.”

“It’s embarrassing Tony. Do you really need it?”

“Yes I really need it, and of course I’d say that even if I didn’t, but I need it. Come on, gimme!”

“‘WAR MACHINE ROX’ with an ‘X’, all caps,” Rhodes sighed.

“That is so much better than ‘lron Patriot’,” Tony declared grinning. Then more seriously he added, “Rhodey, keep away from the Mandarin’s guys. We have to assume that they compromised the armor.”

“Only so much I can do,” Rhodes replied. “Pepper’s with Maya Hansen and she works for A.I.M.”

“Fuck,” Tony swore. “I’m halfway across the country with a stolen econo-car as my only transportation. Take care of her for me?”

“Will do,” Rhodes said.

“Your General?” Tony checked.

“Is on the wrong track,” Rhodes assured him. “His lead isn’t any different from the last three wild goose chases I’ve embarrassed the U.S. on. If you and Pepper agree that A.I.M. and Maya Hansen are not on the up and up, I’m taking it seriously.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I assume when Rhodes’ armor just goes dead the moment the A.I.M. operative in the sweatshop raid grabs his arm meant that A.I.M. had done something to compromise the armor back when they were upgrading it.


	11. Backup Doesn’t Always Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure if an instant kill-shot works on someone with Extremis or if it’s just massive damage but I’m going to assume that if the person is dead before it can heal them they stay dead.

“I just need to-“ Pepper trailed off with gesture towards the bathroom in the hotel she’d brought Maya to.

“Oh yeah, I’ll call room service,” Maya offered. “Been one hell of a long day, we could both use something to unwind.”

Pepper nodded. The moment the door closed behind her she had Happy’s phone out and texted Rhodes the hotel’s address. In the other room Maya had her own phone in hand, “Killian, l don’t have much time…”

* * *

Later, Pepper sat curled up on the hotel room bed listening attentively while Maya rambled about what had brought her to this point in her life. 

“Fun fact,” Maya sighed. “Before he built rockets for the Nazis, the idealistic Wernher von Braun dreamed of space travel. He stargazed. Do you know what he said when the first V-2 hit London? ‘The rocket performed perfectly. It just landed on the wrong planet.’ See, we all begin wide-eyed. Pure science. And then the ego steps in, the obsession. And you look up, you're a long way from shore.”

“And you were trying to heal people, Maya,” Pepper encouraged her. “But how’d that lead you to a terrorist like the Mandarin?”

“Killian built his think tank on military contracts,” Maya sighed.

“If you’re looking for someone to condemn you for that you’ve come to the wrong place,” Pepper said frankly. “I respect and will continue to support Tony’s choice to get SI out of the business of making weapons but…” Pepper sighed. “SI’s weapons didn’t just accidentally fall into the hands of terrorists. Obadiah Stane willfully and knowingly broke the law, he disregarded the regulations of our industry and he knew how to cover his tracks. Obadiah Stane was an evil man. I don’t blame military contracts for putting SI weapons in the hands of terrorists, I blame Obadiah Stane.”

Pepper tilted her head curiously, “I heard Aldrich Killian’s spiel, the first thing that hit me about your Extremis was how easy it would be to weaponize it. I was in that industry for years. Even when I was just Tony’s PA, I paid attention. Maya, was it the government that asked you to turn Extremis from a miracle cure into a new iteration of the Super Soldier Serum? Or was it the Mandarin who noticed that your glitch, the formula’s instability, was ready made for suicide bombers?”

Maya closed her eyes, “There were- accidents. The Master came to Killian, he offered to cover them up... In exchange for more.”

“And a way to set them off on cue,” Pepper observed.

There was a knock at the door. Pepper got up to answer it, her shoulder dropped a fraction when she saw it was only the waiter bringing up their order. 

“Good evening,” the waiter said. Then suddenly Killian came up behind the man and casually snapped his neck.

“Maya, run!” Pepper shouted.

Killian pinned Pepper against the door, his hand around her neck. “Hi, Pepper,” he said casually. Then he glanced at Maya, “So, you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night?”

Maya glared back at him, “I'm trying to fix this thing,” she snapped. “I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up.”

“Oh, I see. So, you were trying to save Stark when he threatened us?” Killian asked disapprovingly.

“Do you have a listening problem?” Maya demanded, “I told you, I didn’t KNOW you were stupid enough to make it necessary to save him. If I had I would have called him instead of going in person. I told you Killian: We need Tony Stark. The breakthrough I’ve been chasing for the last thirteen years? Do you know how it took Tony to get that done? A couple _hours_ , at the most- and he was hungover at the time. If we can get him to finish what he started in Bern then we don’t need the Mandarin anymore! We’ll have a panacea that cures _everything_ short of death. We can write our own ticket!” 

“Get your hands off her.” Pepper sagged in relief at Rhodes’ voice. The Lt. Colonel stood at the far end of the hall, carefully sighting down the barrel of his sidearm. 

“You couldn’t bring the armor?” Killian asked irritably. His throat and eyes began to glow orange. 

“I said get your hands off her,” Rhodes repeated coldly his finger started to tighten on the trigger when Killian belched a ball of fire at him. 

“You- You breath fire?” Rhodes exclaimed jumping back to avoid being fried. 

Killian took a slow deep breath, “Next one goes in her face,” he told Rhodes. 

“No!” Maya exclaimed. Killian gave her an exasperated look but Maya’s expression wasn’t one of moral indignation. “Listen to me for once! We need Tony Stark on this project. With her as leverage he won’t have a choice. But if you kill her the only thing you’ll have is an enraged superhero with a history of leaving his enemies dead.”

Rhodes didn’t bother to wait for the two of them to come to an agreement. While Killian considered Maya’s argument, Rhodes shot him in the chest three times then grabbed Pepper’s arm and yanked her behind him. 

Killian grimaced, the bullet holes glowed orange as they closed over.

Rhodes started backing out of the hall, keeping Pepper behind him. “Run!” she shouted in warning as a blonde woman came up the stairs. 

“The Patriot Armor’s in the employ parking lot, “ the blonde reported to Killian. 

“Well then, grab these two and let’s go. We’re on a schedules people,” Killian remarked.

The woman darted up the hall and grabbed Pepper, only to be surprised when the red-head kneed her sharply. “Self-defense classes?” the other woman asked as she straightened eyeing Pepper more warily.

Back to back, Rhodes and Pepper set watched the two approaching Extremis-Enhanced warily. Rhodes’ gaze flickered to the stairwell beyond the woman then he spun and shot her in the head. “Run!” he shouted pushing Pepper in front of him. 

Killian grabbed Rhodes from behind and spun him. Rhodes’ head cracked against a door and he slid limply to the ground as Killian advanced on Pepper. “Pepper, enough playing hard to get,” Killian said sounding amused.

Realizing she couldn’t get away, Pepper straightened and glared at Killian. “You prettied up the packaging Killian,” she said. “But you’re still a sack shit.” 

Killian tossed Rhodes’ unconscious body over one shoulder and grabbed Pepper’s wrist, hauling her along behind him. “Come along,” he called to Maya as she hesitated at stepping over the dead bodies of the waiter and the Extremis-Enhanced woman Rhodes had killed.


	12. Say What You Really Mean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the same spirit as various scenes where I’ve had S.H.I.E.L.D. be blunt instead of ‘cute’ about saying that they are a shady government agency with no external accountability and few scruples: The Extremis recruitment speech without the gloss. 
> 
> Course Correction? Let’s say Killian’s army is smaller than it might have been but there were still people desperate enough to take what he was offering.

Tony watched Killian’s videos of his recruitment of the Extremis project’s victims/soldiers: “What would you regard as the defining moment of your life?” Killian asked Chad Davis.

“Well, uh, I think that would be the day I decided not to let my injury beat me.”

In another clip a more put-together Killian asked: “Will you please state your name for the camera?”

“Ellen Brandt,” the woman Tony had fought said, her amputated arm clearly visible.

“Okay,” Killian said. “So, the injections are administered periodically. If you don’t want to explode you’ll need to continue taking those injections, and stay in good standing with me, for the rest of your life. However, addiction will not be tolerated. And those who cannot regulate will explode in spite of the injections, I mean will be out of the program.”

Yet another clip. “Your physical disabilities make you misfits, cripples… I should know, I was the same. But look at me now: I’m good-looking, successful, important. And just like Captain America, all I had to do was volunteer to be a lab rat for a highly experimental super soldier serum. Like me, like Captain America, you can evolve to become something better than human. 

"Just in case anyone is getting cold feet… Let me assure you that, risky or not, you will regret it if you back out and try to find some way to overcome your disability without resorting to a quick fix. Seize the day, take the chance to become the next Captain America. Steve Rogers had no guarantees that he’d survive either and look how that worked out.”


	13. A Lack of Gaslighting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inserted scene because a comment of snape_lust's got me thinking.

As he drove Tony spoke on the phone, “Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report.”

“Yeah, I'm still eating that candy,” Harley replied. “Do you want me to keep eating it?”

“How much have you had?” Tony asked.

“Two or three bowls,” Harley admitted.

“Can you still see straight?” Tony asked.

“Sort of.”

“That means you're fine,” Tony decided. He hoped that Harley’s mom wouldn’t kill him for wrecking the kid’s teeth or giving him a sugar high or whatever it was that happened when you gave kids too much candy. “Give me J.A.R.V.I.S. J.A.R.V.I.S., how are we?”

“It's totally fine, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said. “I seem to do quite well for a stretch and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry. And, sir, you were right, once I factored in available A.I.M. downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal.”

“What are we talking?” Tony asked. “Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?”

“Actually, sir, it's in Miami.”

Tony sighed, “Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting J.A.R.V.I.S.'s speech drive but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is.”

Harley peered at the screen, “Um, it does say Miami, Florida.”

“Okay.” Data was data and no one got anywhere arguing with it. “First things first, I need the armor. Where are we at with it?”

Harley hesitated. “Uh, it's not charging.”

“Well shit,” Tony said.

“Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable,” J.A.R.V.I.S. corrected. “It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42.”

“I’m not in a cave this time,” Tony said after a few moments. “Got a bit of a time crunch going on but I’m not in a cave. I’ll make do. Harley, thanks for helping out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this wrecks the scene that makes me love Harley but there are benefits to Tony keeping S.H.I.E.L.D. at arm’s distance and having less cumulative damage to his relationships with Pepper, Rhodes and Happy. Namely, Tony not needing to depend on a kid to remind him that he’s more than the suit. 
> 
> Tony’s still dealing with the wormhole and what he saw on the other side… BUT he didn’t care enough about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s opinion of him to even bother looking at Natasha’s “Iron Man: Yes. Tony Stark: Not recommended” report. Without S.H.I.E.L.D. laying the groundwork for Tony doubting his value apart from Iron Man, Steve’s “Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” is nothing but evidence that Steve’s a dick. So Tony doesn’t freak out at the thought of having to deal with the armor being down, because he hasn’t been dealing with a bunch of assholes systematically tearing him down.


	14. When You Say ‘No’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony isn't the only one who rejected Killian, Pepper says: " I used to work with him, and he used to ask me out all the time. So it's a little awkward." Then in spite of being impressed with Killian's transformation she still told him that SI wouldn't work with him because Pepper listened to what he was saying and decided that Extremis was too easily weaponizable.

The guns persuaded Pepper and Rhodes to changed into the lycra-like, flame-proof clothes Maya gave them without much of a fuss. “So what now? You play mad scientist with us?” Rhodes asked Maya angrily. 

Maya shook her head. “I’m not a bad person,” she protested as Killian’s armed goons forced them to lay back against the tilted medical tables to be strapped down. “Extremis is a cure, it wasn’t supposed to hurt people.”

“Open your eyes Maya,” Pepper said. “You are in the middle of tying us to a table so you can forcibly inject us with something that will probably kill us. It doesn’t matter that you intended for Extremis to help people. It just doesn’t matter what your intentions were anymore.”

“Extremis could still become what it was meant to be,” Maya argued. “If it worked- You don’t understand its potential! If it worked it would redeem everything we’ve done to get this far.” She turned to Rhodes, “How many soldiers come home, limbs missing, bodies broken beyond repair. How many lives ruined? Genetic disorders: Down syndrome, Cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, they could all be things of the past! I just need Tony’s help to finish stabilizing it. Don’t you understand?”

Rhodes glared at her, “I understand over a hundred dead in the Mandarin’s attacks so far. That’s on you Maya. You enabled that.” 

Killian swept into the lab, “Savin has Tony Stark at the Mandarin’s mansion,” he announced. “So why isn’t his incentive package ready yet?”

“They’re ready,” Maya said. “We show Tony that we have his friends, threaten to inject them with Extremis in forty-eight hours or so if he hasn’t made some progress toward finishing stabilizing the formula. Simple.”

Killian shook his head. “Ask the Ten Rings how well it worked out for them to demand that Tony Stark build something for them,” he said. “No, if we’re going to do this he has to be fully invested in making Extremis stable. Inject both of them with the serum and he’ll have to fix it if he wants to save his friends.”

Maya picked up one of the multi-pronged injectors then hesitated. “We haven’t done any testing on a healthy subject,” she pointed out. “We have no idea of how Extremis will react if there’s nothing to fix and we’ll lose our leverage if they die.” 

“Well if that’s all that’s bothering you,” Killian replied lightly. He walked up to Rhodes. “Colonel, we’d really appreciate the codes to open your armor.”

“And I thought A.I.M. already had its grubby mits all over it,” Rhodes said. 

Killian shrugged. “We gave it a paint job… Oh, if you’d actually taken the Iron Patriot up against one of ours the thermal hardening overcoat would have been a nasty surprise for you… But now I need the keys.” 

“Over my cold dead body,” Rhodes replied flatly.

“Give me a little credit,” Killian protested. “I’m not some two-bit hood threatening to murder you in a back alley. I’m giving you the chance become part of the next iteration of human evolution. Besides, you can’t talk if you’re dead.” 

Rhodes looked unimpressed. 

Killian sighed, “The burden of being surrounded by small minds.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t take a course in understanding megalomaniac,” Rhodes snapped.

Killian turned to Maya, “You know, Tony might not take us seriously at first. We could keep one of them in reserve… If we have to let the other blow up before he gets motivated.” He looked between Pepper and Rhodes, “So who’s the warm up and who’s the main event? The best friend or the girlfriend. Seems obvious…” he smirked at Pepper, “But then you think about how many women Stark’s gone through and doubt creeps in.

“And, no doubt the Colonel’s had some training in how to resist torture,” Killian continued. “But he looks like the chivalrous sort to me. What do you think Maya?”

“We don’t have to do this,” Maya said. “The Mandarin’s plan? We don’t need to dance to his tune anymore. With Tony on board we can get Extremis back to what it was meant to be.”

Killian rolled his eyes, “Maya, sweetheart, there is no Mandarin. I invented him to provide a way to dispose of the project’s washouts… I think it turned out much better than expected, the sort of serendipitous accident that led to the development of the microwave or the pacemaker. By the end of the week I'll have the West's most powerful leader in one hand and the world's most feared terrorist in the other. I'll own the war on terror.”

“You’re a lunatic,” Rhodes said.

“That wasn’t the codes.” Killian shook his head with mock sadness. He took Pepper’s hand and bent to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Then he started to squeeze. Pepper’s scream almost covered the sound of breaking bones. 

Rhodes started swearing at him, his eyes promising death.

“Be honest-” Pepper said breathing raggedly. “You’re still burned that I wouldn’t go out with you.”

“You really should have said yes,” Killian said, his eyes narrowing. “I was even nice enough to come to SI, to show what I’d become. I don’t give many second chances and you blew yours.” 

Pepper’s chin came up. “I’m not that shallow,” she said. “You think I’m with Tony because he’s handsome and rich? I told him ‘no’ the first time he came on to me, just like I did you, but _Tony_ didn’t make me feel like I had to quit my job to get him to respect that. I only changed my answer after years of watching him change, of changing myself, of being friends. Tony and I, we grew together, but you? The more I see of you, Killian, the more certain I am that my first impression was… Much too generous.” 

Killian’s hand started to glow. He reached for Pepper again. As she started to scream and the room filled with the stench of burning flesh, Killian glanced over at Maya, “You see? There will be plenty for Extremis to fix…”

“Stop it,” Rhodes sighed in defeat. “There are no codes, the armor’s biometrically locked to me.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to take you with us,” Killian said. “Maya, hurry up and give Pepper the injection. But first, give me a moment to get the cameras set up. We’re going to want Tony to see this in 3D and high definition.”

Pepper sobbed raggedly as Killian’s goons set up several cameras around her and as they dragged Rhodey out of the lab. 

“You need to regulate- Extremis hurts,” Maya said quickly. She stared at Pepper’s chin as she spoke, unable to meet her eyes or look at the mangle mess left of her arm. “If you’ve ever helped with a Lamaze class or if you do meditation, use that. You have to control the pain, if you don’t it’ll kill you. We’ve had better results with people who are able to focus on their goal.”

Pepper raised her head and glared across the room at Killian. “Don’t worry about Tony,” she told him thickly. “I’m going to kill you myself.”

“Now there’s the spirit,” Killian replied condescendingly. 

Maya pressed the injector against Pepper’s neck. “What’s going to happen to you when you eventually tell him ‘no’?” Pepper asked Maya quietly as Extremis entered her veins and her blood began to boil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about trying switch things around to make Maya the primary villain but I don't really feel like she has the motivation to go through with the big final battle and part of the game is keeping the explosions intact. 
> 
> So instead Maya gets to talk more about what she thinks she's going to get out of this whole mess, because her heel-face turn isn't just a late addition to the film, it _feels_ like an after thought.


	15. Offers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I inserted a new chapter 13 (comments from snape_lust got me thinking), chapter 14 has already been up for a couple days. This chapter is new.

Tony woke up to the realization that he was zip-tied to a bed frame that had been stood on end.

“It's just like old times, huh?” Maya asked.

Tony frowned at her, “Are you sure that you remember that night?” he asked. “We went up to your hotel room, so if anyone had the set up for kinks it would have been you and I don’t let anyone tie me down on a first date.”

“It wasn't my idea,” Maya said. “I mean, yeah forcing you to finish stabilizing Extremis was totally my idea, Killian would have rather just killed you, but once I talked him around to it the exact mechanics of how we’d go about getting you to help weren’t my idea, I just want you to know that, it wasn’t my idea. And the Mandarin wasn’t my idea, either.” 

“Okay,” Tony sighed. “Let's start at the beginning: You took Killian's card.”

“I took his money,” Maya corrected.

“What money?” Tony asked. “I mean that’s what he came to me for: Money. And he sucks as a salesman.”

Maya shrugged, “Back then yeah. You see Tony, the human spirit is an amazing thing. I never got anywhere with animal testing but Killian had faith in me, he took Extremis and he conquered it. With a viable subject to show we got funding.”

“And here you are thirteen years later,” Tony replied. “Killian’s flunky, working out of a dungeon.”

“No,” Maya disagreed.

“Yeah,” Tony said.

“No, you're in a dungeon,” Maya said. “I'm free to go.”

“Just because you’re the on the other side of the bars- Well, all that it means is you _chose_ to work in a dungeon Maya,” Tony said. “I guess that makes you more proof of how lousy I am at reading people. Because, you know, I’ve been in this position before but my first impression of you was pretty positive. And yet, here you are taking a page out of the Ten Rings’ playbook.” 

Maya sighed, “A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close. Extremis is practically stabilized.”

“Yeah, you’re ‘close’ but this isn’t hand grenades or horseshoes… Well, actually, your subjects are hand grenades. Roughly, forty people walking around today, pins pulled, primed and ready to explode,” Tony said. “Did you inject them all at once or did you just keep going after the first poor sap painted the walls? Because you were ‘close’ to having something that would cure your patients instead of killing them.” 

“It worked,” Maya protested. “Limbs regrown. Incurable genetic defects? I can rewrite the DNA. It’s just…”

“They’re cured and happy with you… Right up until the moment they go ka-boom?” Tony asked. “And I’m guessing you don’t have much contact with the families afterwards, let alone the family of the guy who happened to be standing next to them when they went nuclear?”

“Help me fix it,” Maya pled. She showed Tony his name tag from Bern and the equations written on the back. “You didn’t see the positive difference Extremis made in those people’s lives.”

“No, I just saw the body bags a couple months later,” Tony said. “Maya, I’m not going to help you and Killian get away with murder. But if you get me out of here and turn yourself in, I’ll swing some sort of deal to let you help me disarm those hand grenades of yours. Let ‘em be people again, if they’re willing.”

Before Maya could answer, Killian walked in. “You know what my old man used to say to me? One of his favorite of many sayings… ‘The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese’."

Tony looked Killian up and down, “Just out of curiosity, can I ask how long it took for you to figure out presence? ‘Cause it’s not all ‘the clothes make the man’, Justin Hammer always knew how to dress himself- Well better than you did back in the day. -And he still has the charisma of a wet paper bag.”

“A couple of years of toastmasters and studying effective speakers-“ Killian began then cut himself off. For a brief second he glared at Tony then he pasted a benign smile on. “You remember that night in Switzerland?”

“Yeah, okay, I admit I actually have a pretty good memory.” Tony jerked his head towards Maya. “So were you making a pass at her or trying to pitch a proposal to me? I was never entirely sure.” 

“You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me, Tony: Desperation.” Killian said, through gritted teeth. “Watching you walk away, I realized you had no idea what I was capable of. You didn’t even care and there was no way I could make you care. Because you never even saw me. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since,” he glanced at Maya. “ Right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target.”

“The Mandarin? That’s- That is what you are?” Maya accused. “It is isn’t it! You haven’t cared about the science since you got _your_ cure. Why would you care about stabilizing Extremis when it your little terrorist side-line is going so well?! What do you- What have you ever contributed to this project?”

“Maya, don’t be a diva,” Killian sighed. “I pay the bills.” He pointed at Tony, “I made us _matter_ to people like him.”

“Yeah, mass murdering terrorist, great way to go down in the history books,” Tony sniped.

“We could have made all this right! We just had to finish it, but you perverted my science! Well what happens if you go too hot one day?” Maya demanded. 

Killian turned and shot her. 

As Maya lay bleeding out on the floor he walked over to stand over her. “Maya, unlike the majority of our lab rats, I actually put in effort to improve myself, to not be at the mercy of my limbic brain. I don’t need you. And if you’re going to be running to cops or superheroes every time I turn around I’d rather not have you,” he said. 

“You’re a maniac,” Tony gasped.

Killian glanced at Maya’s body, “She did have some good ideas,” he said. “At least the seeds them. Originally, I was just going to kill you Tony but she convinced me it would be much more rewarding to own you, you and Pepper both.” 

He took three of the marble holographic generators out of a case and rolled them across the floor. An image of Pepper, flushed with Extremis, appeared in front of Tony. “Now, this is live,” Killian explained. “I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular. But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain.”

Tony twisted in his bonds, caught between being unable to look away from Pepper’s torment and unable to watch.

“So, work on Extremis, or don’t. I really don’t care,” Killian said with a shrugged. “I’ll just leave this little show to keep you company. You can give me your answer when I get back: My pet lab monkey with a chance to help Pepper stay alive or a bullet in the skull and it's up to her whether she survives or not. The Mandarin’s final lesson is due before Christmas morning after all, I can't hang around while you think it over.”


	16. All for You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After watching the end battle of IM3 repeatedly I have to wonder: Why is Tony wearing an A.I.M. tee-shirt in that scene?!?
> 
> Other stuff: I have mixed feelings about the scene immediately prior to the armors showing up. The good: Rhodes is clearly in command of the operation. Rhodey is more than Tony’s sidekick or a yes-man. And Tony has no problem taking a secondary role or recognizing other people’s abilities/areas of expertise - Natasha’s ‘not a team player’, ‘ego’ schtick about Tony is such a ridiculous load of crap! The bad: Tony and Rhodes’ argument about gun magazines not being universal. Why in the world is the MCU trying to tell us Tony has no clue how guns work? And even if it can be argued SI made missiles not handguns, this is in a movie where, earlier, Tony had demonstrated proficiency and comfort with handguns. So why wasn’t it sufficient to just leave that scene at Rhodes is much more proficient with handguns than Tony? That conversation wasn't bad communication, it was just stupid communication so I'm going with the best way of fixing it is to pretend it never happened.

Pepper managed to survive phase II, her body accepting Extremis, before Mark 42 finally arrived and Tony was able to free himself. On his way out Tony stumbled across Rhodes and rescued him as well. 

“I hope you have War Machine’s overrides,” Rhodes said as Tony snapped his bonds. “Because I think they’re using it as a Trojan Horse to go after the POTUS.”

“I can take out every other armor remotely but you were supposed to be my check,” Tony admitted. “And I’m having some technical difficulties with the armor I’ve got on. Turns out the segmented approach has some reliability issues.” 

“Great,” Rhodes groaned. “They’ve, also, got Pepper on the Roxxon Norco about twenty minutes out from here.”

“But I have an idea,” Tony added.

Fifteen minutes later... “That came out of nowhere. Wow,” Tony sighed as he lost the remote link to Mark 42 following a run-in with a semi. 

“Give me some good news, man,” Rhodes pled.

“I think all the passengers and crew made it,” Tony offered, opting for a good news first approach.

“Oh, thank God.”

“Well, all the ones alive when I got there. And I missed the president,” Tony admitted.

“You couldn't save the president with the suit, how are we gonna save Pepper with nothing?” Rhodes demanded.

“First, the president was gone by the time I got there,” Tony ticked off. “Second, this is just a set back. My guess is they took the President the same place they’ve got Pepper so we’ll save them both this time. And third… Say, Jarvis, is it that time?”

“The House Party Protocol, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. asked.

“Correct,” Tony replied. Back in Malibu the workers clearing away the rubble that was left of Tony’s house after the Mandarin’s attack got a shock when a massive hatch slid open revealing a lower level and dozens of Iron Man armors streamed out.

* * *

Tony and Rhodes arrived at the Roxxon Norco well in advance of the suits Tony had summoned. 

Tony fell back and let Rhodes, with his many years of military and combat experience, take the lead as they infiltrated the ship. “Three guys, one girl, all armed,” Tony reported back to Rhodes. 

“God, I would kill for some armor right now,” Rhodes sighed.

Tony checked his watch then started to grin, “You're right. We need backup.”

“Yeah, a bunch,” Rhodes groaned.

“You know what?” Tony glanced upward. Rhodes followed his gaze and saw dozens of Iron Man armors lining up in the sky above them.

“Is that…” Rhodes felt a grin to match Tony’s breaking out on his face.

“Yep.”

Still Rhodes couldn’t quite believe the ace-in-the-hole his friend had played “Are those…” 

“Yeah,” Tony confirmed. “Merry Christmas, buddy. J.A.R.V.I.S., target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice.”

“Yes, sir,” JARVIS replied speaking in stereo through the armors.

“What are you waiting for?” Tony asked J.A.R.V.I.S. “It's Christmas, take them to church.” And the battle was joined. 

As a particularly heavily reinforced armor stabilized the Roxxon after a stray missile took out part of the docks Rhodes remarked, “This is how you've been managing your down time, huh?”

“Everybody needs a hobby,” Tony shrugged as he provided direction to on limited on-board systems helping J.A.R.V.I.S. to control the armors. One of the more classically designed versions swooped down to engulf Tony. “Nice timing.”

“Oh, yeah. That's awesome,” Rhodes agreed. He spread his arms as Tony had done. “Give me a suit, okay?”

“Suggestions J.A.R.V.I.S.?” Tony asked.

“Perhaps the upgraded version of War Machine designed specifically with the Colonel in mind?” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied dryly. He landed a gunmetal grey suit beside Rhodes. “I am sorry Colonel, without transceivers implanted below your skin it would be best if you simply stepped into the suit rather than unnecessarily risking my sensors misjudging the exact location of your extremities.” 

Rhodes flushed lightly as he suited up, “Right, I’m supposed to be the responsible one.” Then he sighed, “It did look cool. Hey Tony, how much safety testing did you do before-”

“Don’t ask,” Tony interrupted. Then they split up, Tony went after Pepper while Rhodes headed for where the President was strung up to be roasted in the Iron Patriot armor. 

“Sir, I've located Ms Potts,” J.A.R.V.I.S. reported. He directed Tony to one of the elevated offices high above the docks. 

“About time,” Tony declared letting himself in through a hole in the wall. The amount of collateral damage was frankly alarming. Pepper was trapped under debris and still strapped into the twisted remains of the ‘medical table’ Maya and Killian used to keep their subjects from doing too much damage during the early phases of Extremis introduction. 

Tony went to lift the debris off Pepper but shifting it brought several jagged shards dangerously close to her. “Stop! Put it down. Put it down. Put it down,” Pepper exclaimed.

Tony lowered the debris back down then crouched to try to get a better look at the problem. “What were you thinking, going off with Maya?” he scolded. “We knew she was involved.” 

“I hate being helpless Tony,” Pepper sighed. “Someone had to interrogate her and the police weren’t getting anywhere. I called Rhodey in for backup!” she added defensively.

“Yeah, you’re less reckless than me.” Tony stretched his hand out to her. “But that’s sort of a low bar isn’t it?”

Pepper giggled wetly. “Rhodey’s okay?” she asked. Between the bulk of the armor and the debris pinning Pepper their fingers could barely touch.

“He decided he’d rather rescue the president than you,” Tony said and shook his head. “I love him like a brother, but...” 

Tony tried to squeeze his shoulder between the debris. “Come on. A little more, baby.”

Pepper whimpered, straining to reach Tony’s hand.

Killian burst up through the floor from where he’d been buried by an earlier explosion. “Is this guy bothering you?” he asked Pepper as he knocked Tony to the ground, ripped the act reactor out of the armor’s chest plate, then leaned on Tony’s chest to pin him on his back. “Don't get up. It’s more fun to torture you like this.”

Killian used a finger to superheat the armor. “Is it hot in there?” he asked as his finger began to sink into the melting metal. “Stuck? Do you feel a little stuck? Like a little turtle, cooking in his little turtle suit.”

“Oh, Tony,” Pepper cried.

Tony tried and failed to heave Killian off him.

“She's watching,” Killian laughed. “I can hurt you right in front of her and there’s nothing you can do to stop me, it’s great! I could brand you! Blind you! Close your eyes. Submit and I promise I’ll just brand you. God, I love having all this power over you.”

As Killian brought his hand down Tony popped a blade out of the armor’s wrist and let Killian slice off his own hand with the force of the attack. The still-glowing hand spun off in one direction and Killian staggered away in another clutching his abbreviated forearm. “Yeah, you take a minute,” Tony muttered as he kicked free of the depowered armor. “Definitely adding some surprises for the next asshole who tries to rip the reactor out of my chest.”

Killian’s severed hand, like lava in human form, burned through the floor where it had fallen causing the already severely compromised structure to fail. The section where Pepper laid trapped cantilevered out, swinging her over a two hundred foot drop as most of the debris pinning her shook loose and fell into the void.

Tony hurtled himself across the disintegrating structure trying to make it back to Pepper’s side, “J.A.R.V.I.S., give me a suit right now!”

On the other side of the ship Rhodes shot down two Extremis Enhanced soldiers, blowing them clean off the Roxxon with a missile from him shoulder launcher. He popped his face plate and flew down to hover in front of the President.

“Colonel Rhodes,” the President exclaimed in relief.

“We’ll have you down in a jiff,” Rhodes assured him. “J.A.R.V.I.S., what do you need to take control of the Patriot?” 

A thumb drive popped up from War Machine II’s wrist, “I believe you know where the port is,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. Another of the Extremis Enhanced leapt at Rhodes from shipping crate. Without disrupting J.A.R.V.I.S.’s link Rhodes blasted his attacker away. “I have it Colonel.” 

“Fly him up to MacDill,” Rhodes ordered. “And get me line to the Base Commander so they know who’s coming.” He gave the President a reassuring grin, “How ‘bout an impressive landing, look cool for the troops?” Then Rhodes fired his repulsors, severing the cables holding the Iron Patriot aloft. The armor fell just a few feet before JARVIS engaged the thrusters and flew the suit away. 

“Once he’s out, take the armor to the Tower and put it on lockdown in case AIM put any other surprises in it,” Rhodes told J.A.R.V.I.S. “Now, where’s Tony?”

Mostly by bad luck, Tony hadn’t been able to secure another suit but he’d managed to scramble across to a gantry where he could almost reach the strut Pepper hung precariously from. “Honey, you’ve got to let go with both hands and reach for me. It’s only a matter of time before that whole thing falls and I can’t get any closer,” he pled. “That chunk of metal you’re hanging on to is going to fail. You have to let go and reach for me with both hands. Trust me! I'll catch you, I promise.”

Pepper reached out with one hand, still gripping the strut with the other, unable to commit her safety fully to Tony’s hands. The gap between them remained unbridged. Another jolt to the structure took the choice from her. Tony lunged for her as she fell, their fingers brushed but it wasn’t enough. “NO!” Tony screamed as Pepper fell into the inferno below.

“A shame. I would've caught her,” Killian remarked. And Tony was certain there would never be anyone he wanted to kill more than Aldrich Killian in that moment. He made as if to take on the Extremis Enhanced with his bare hands in a blind rage only to feint at the last moment and take possession of one of his armors as Killian shot past him, evening up the odds. When Killian disabled that armor, Tony abandoned it for a second and a third without hesitation, using his tech to the full extent of its abilities. It wasn’t enough.

“How does it feel? Your entire future in my hands?” Killian gloated.

Tony could only think of Pepper, consumed by fire and him, unable to avenge her.

“Mark 42, inbound,” J.A.R.V.I.S.‘s voice in his ear was the answer to a prayer.

“I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns,” Tony said. And then the battered armor crashed. Along with his hopes of a last reversal of fate. A disgusted “Whatever,” was all the emotion Tony could muster. 

“You really didn't deserve her, Tony,” Killian said mockingly. “It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect.”

And the defeat that had numbed Tony shattered. “Okay, wait! Slow down! You're right. I don't deserve her. Here's where you're wrong: She was already perfect.” Tony gestured and beaten, battered suit flew past him to encase Killian in a metal cage. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S., do me a favor and blow Mark 42,” Tony said coldly.

“No!” Killian screamed as the armor self-destructed with him inside.

For a moment Tony believed he’d won. He nearly killed himself getting away from the explosion, descended two hundred feet in fifteen seconds and tore yet another suit apart on the way down, leaving him with one boot intact, a most likely dislocated shoulder and an ankle that was probably broken- _‘Being able to get in and out of the suits quickly is convenient, a damn life-saver when they’re breaking like tinker toys! But the tradeoff in loss of durability really sucks. Need to rethink all the hinges.’_ -But it didn’t matter, he was walking away and Killian wasn’t. 

Then Tony remembered that Pepper wasn’t walking away from this fight and, because the universe hated him, that was the moment when Killian strode out of the flames, Extremis rebuilding his body from under a crust of burnt skin. 

“No more false faces. No more games,” Killian said as he stretched his arms wide. “After years of telling myself how Tony Stark was the villain of my story… I’m amazed at how freeing it is to say I am the Mandarin. I am the villain of this story! All those people who ignored me, now they’re afraid of me. I may not get the girl but I got to make sure no one else gets her either. And, of best of all, I get to kill you Tony.”

Killian loomed over Tony, then, out of nowhere, a chunk of iron rebar batted him across the dock. “Told you, Tony isn’t the one you should worry about,” Pepper, also alight with Extremis, growled.

Tony just stared, “I got nothing.” 

Then he saw one of the suits targeting Pepper, “J.A.R.V.I.S., subject at my twelve o'clock is not a target, disengage!” he exclaimed. The suit didn’t change course. Panicked Tony reached for his comm only to see it lying on the ground several feet away.

The armor’s repulsors fired. Pepper practically growled as she dodged the shot.

“What?” Tony asked, drawing her attention. “Oh, what? Are you mad at me?”

Pepper ran at Tony and used what was left of the armor on him to give herself a boost into the air. “Just mad!” she snarled as she wrapped an arm around the armor’s neck and slammed it to the ground. 

“At everything!” She punched through the chest of the armor and ripped the arc reactor out. 

“At the situation!” She slammed her fist into the gauntlet. 

“At him!” She spun around as Killian ran at her and sent him rolling across the pavement with a punch from the gauntlet. Then she kicked a small missile that had fallen out of the shattered armor at Killian and detonated it with a blast from the gauntlet. 

For a moment Pepper stood there, gauntlet raised, waiting for Killian to rise out of the flames. 

“Honey?” Tony called nervously.

“Oh, my God,” Pepper sounded utterly shocked. “That was really violent.”

Tony shook his head, a measure of tension going out of him, “You just scared the devil out of me. I thought you were…”

“I was dead,” Pepper finished. “Why? Because I fell two hundred feet?”

“That and the fireball,” Tony agreed. “You know, I’d been thinking it’d be nice if we did more stuff together. Instead of me in the lab and you in the boardroom all the time…”

“No!” Pepper exclaimed but she couldn’t keep back a small grin. “I’m not the superhero type!”

“It’d probably give me a heart attack in under a week,” Tony admitted. “Worrying about you.” 

“But you know, I think I understand why you don't want to give up the suits,” Pepper added. “What am I going to complain about now?”

Tony shrugged. “Well, it's me. You'll think of something,” he said as he reached for her.

Pepper jerked back, “No, don't touch me.”

“Don't worry about it,” Tony said.

“No, I'm gonna burn you,” Pepper protested.

“No, you're not,” Tony assured her, running a hand down her arm. “Not hot.”

“Am I gonna be okay?” Pepper asked.

“No,” Tony said. You're in a relationship with me. Everything will never be okay.”

“Oh I don’t know,” Pepper disagreed with a small smile.

Tony returned it with increasing ease. “But I think I can figure this out, yeah. I almost had this twenty years ago when I was drunk. I think I can get you better. That's what I do. I fix stuff.”

“Umm…” Pepper said hesitantly. “When I’m not all…” she gestured vaguely to her current state and Tony took it to mean Extremis Enhanced. “Would you build me a suit?”

Tony’s mouth dropped open.

“Just for when stuff happens,” Pepper added quickly. “I don’t want to go looking for trouble.”

“And I was thinking I’d blow-up the suits for your Christmas present,” Tony said. “Since the big bunny was more of a flop than a Flopsy.”

“Tony! I just told you I understand why you _wouldn’t_ be happy giving up Iron Man!” Pepper exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you hate Iron Man,” Tony argued. “I- I almost lost you. You’re the most important thing to me.”

Pepper shook her head. “I don’t want you to stop being you for me,” she said.

“Build you a suit? You’re sure?” Tony asked.

Pepper nodded.

Tony swung her around and kissed her, “How about ‘Rescue’? Does that sound like the right name for your armor?”

“Perfect,” Pepper agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I do think Fury’s implication from IM2, that Tony allowed (intentionally provoked) Rhodes to steal the armor is the only reasonable explanation for why Rhodes was ABLE to take the armor- Tony wanted Rhodes to have it and needed a way to get him to take it without drawing too much attention to Tony giving away his most important possessions because he was hiding that he was dying from both Rhodes and Pepper. While I think Tony intended for Rhodes to take the armor, Tony successfully manipulating Rhodes into taking it from him still wouldn’t erase that it would HURT that he could turn his friend against him- So we get to IM3 and Tony has all those extra suits but they’re NOT keyed to Rhodes. Probably a consequence of Rhodes’ actions in IM2. In this AU Rhodes and Pepper knew Tony was dying, there was no reason for Tony to provoke Rhodes into stealing the armor and no consequently hurt feelings when Rhodes did it… As a result, come IM3, Rhodes is keyed to the extra suits (even though Rhodes’ subsequent scenes rescuing the President without armor nicely demonstrate that RHODES is not just a guy in a flying tank. I like IM3 a lot for showing BOTH Tony and Rhodey are quite capable heroes even if the armor is taken away from them). 
> 
> I really, really wanted to NOT have Tony’s ear-comm fall out at the critical moment, to let him get the suit (or have the bits of suit he had left after the fall be enough for one last offense), have Tony and Pepper take Killian down together, because I love the idea/visual of the two of them side by side against the bad guy, but… But, sigh, the bigger ‘bad communication’ of that sequence, IMO, is what happens AFTER Tony can’t call off the suit and Pepper takes it out: When Tony asks Pepper if she’s mad at him and she doesn’t respond. It would be less annoying with a different character, but the MCU resorts to Tony being blamed or taking responsibility for things outside of his control, having him feel like _Pepper_ is blaming him for something he couldn’t have predicted… I really like IM3, except for Pepper. Even with her cool taking down the villain moment.


	17. Who’s Tony Monologuing at?

“And so, as Christmas morning began, my journey had reached its end. You start with something pure, something exciting. Then, come the mistakes. The compromises. We create our own demons,” Tony declared. 

“Tony, you said you were telling this story because _you_ created demons that night in Switzerland,” an intense-looking dark-haired man reminded. “So I’m wondering, did you create this demon when you refused to help Aldrich Killian… Or when you did help Maya Hansen?”

Tony sat up and stared for a moment, “You lost me Doc.”

“Let me see if I’ve got the gist of what you told me correctly,” the psychiatrist replied. “Thirteen years ago you met Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen at a party. Aldrich Killian wanted you to fund a ‘think tank’ with an undisclosed or possibly undetermined focus and you declined to help him because he didn’t make a favorable impression. Maya Hansen wanted your input on a technical problem and you gave her a suggestion that enabled her to move her project forward, because you liked her. How did you create the demon of the Mandarin? Was it by leaving Aldrich Killian to find his own way to get ahead? Or was it by getting Maya Hansen a bit further in her project?”

“Um…” Tony hesitated. “Both, I guess.”

“So help, don’t help, you’re wrong either way?” the psychiatrist asked.

“Story of my life,” Tony said with a wry grin.

“Later, the two of them would go into business together to continue developing the project Ms. Hansen was working on at the time you met her. The two of them would decide to move into testing their process on humans, in spite of a ‘glitch’ that caused some of their test subjects to explode violently. Aldrich Killian would then invent a terrorist to cover up this ‘glitch’ by placing his failing test subjects such that they killed additional people when they exploded." The psychiatrist spread his hands slightly, “Where were you in any of that, Tony?”

“Maybe if I had been there…”

“ _Maybe._ But where _were_ you when Aldrich Killian decided to first inject himself with Extremis?” 

“Afghanistan,” Tony said quietly.

“Where were you when Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen started finding other test subjects, despite known problems with Extremis?”

“Trying to get SI missiles off the black market.”

“Where were you when Aldrich Killian came up with the idea of disguising his project’s failures, the deaths of his and Ms. Hansen’s test subjects, as terrorist attacks?”

“Um- New York, rebuilding.” 

“It sounds like you were busy,” the psychiatrist said.

“Maybe if I hadn’t been busy with the wrong things back then I wouldn’t have ended up in Afghanistan,” Tony argued.

“Tony, you met Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian briefly, over a decade ago. After that night you went your way, they went theirs. Maybe you could have made better or different choices for your life but allow them the autonomy of owning the choices they made in their lives.” 

Tony left the session with a thoughtful look on his face.

* * *

Several months later.

“So today’s the big meeting,” Happy said as he fell in beside Tony. “Nervous?”

Tony grinned, “Compared to last night when I sprung Betty on Bruce without warning him? Not in the slightest.”

“You weren’t nervous then,” Happy pointed out. 

“That was before Bruce took five minutes to find his tongue and I spent the next two hours making small talk while knowing that Pepper ‘had something to say’ as soon as we were in private,” Tony replied frankly. 

Happy laughed, “Well, knock ‘em dead boss,” he said as he split off toward his own office. He was still walking with a small limp, a souvenir from the bombing, but it was getting better every day.

Tony swept into his favorite of SI’s conference rooms. Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Helen Cho and James Rhodes waited inside. “Until now S.H.I.E.L.D. has claimed the defense of our planet as their sole jurisdiction,” Tony declared . “And no one really cared because until 2012 it was only them and the lunatic fringe who consider an alien invasion as a real possibility. 

“The Battle of Manhattan validated S.H.I.E.L.D.’s charter but their research called the invasion down on our heads and they managed to field six individuals against an alien armada. The Earth got lucky: The Invasion arrived through a small door and the six of us managed to slam that door closed. Next time we have to do better. And that’s why I asked you here.”

Dr. Selvig put up his hand, “I’m counting seven, it’s a small improvement from six but…”

“Well if you’ve got suggestions, the more the merrier,” Tony declared. He nodded to Rhodey, “Colonel Rhodes will be serving as a liaison between our group and the U.S. Military- We can all thank Dr. Ross and her restraining order for the Military’s other go-to guy for these things being kept far, far away. Someone not graced with the last name Stark can try reaching out to Hank Pym… Maybe he can pretend I’m not involved for the sake of the planet.”

“What about the other Avengers?” Dr. Cho asked.

“Thor is off planet, the other three are working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and a big part of why I’m doing this is because I am not comfortable with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s standard operating procedures,” Tony replied. Then he shrugged, “Also when I breached the subject with my colleagues from the previous invasion I was told, ‘Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die.’ My opinion that the war has already started, that an armada like the one I saw on the other side of the wormhole in New York doesn’t just evaporate because you slam the door in their face, was dismissed as paranoia. 

“Look, I’m an engineer, so are several of you, you know how to do risk analysis. If I’m right, if the Chitauri make another attack and we do nothing to prepare for it there is a high likelihood that the outcome for the Earth will be very bad. They have seen what we can currently field in defense of the planet and it’s likely that if they come back they’ll come back prepared to deal with that. If I’m wrong, if Thor was wrong to say that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s work with the Tesseract was like setting up a beacon proclaiming that the Earth is worth conquering, if the Chitauri never come back and no other unfriendly aliens come knocking… Well then we’ve wasted our time effort… Although I don’t know that improvements in space travel, which are almost an inevitable side effect of the sorts of projects we’d be working on could ever be considered a complete loss.” 

Dr. Foster nodded, “If we don’t end up fighting in the Asteroid Belt, the capability to do so would mean that we’d have the capability to mine it.” 

“It would be nice if it ends up I’m worried about nothing,” Tony said. “But- ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst’. Dr. Selvig, Dr. Cho I would deeply appreciate it if you two in particular would make use of any connections you have. This is about protecting the planet, we need to be thinking internationally. If you’re in, say so now. If you’ve got names to put on the table, great. We don’t want Earth caught with it’s pants down a second time.”


End file.
